The Last Light
by immaboo
Summary: Anya, one of the last lightbenders alive, travels with her sister Layla in a constant flee from the shadowbenders pursuing them. Her destiny is entwined with the Avatar, and they will eventually travel together. Can they defeat the firelord and the shadowbenders?


_This story takes place during the hundred year war. The original characters will eventually merge with the characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender. When I was a teenager, I wrote a fanfiction called, *~Anya, Sunbender~* on the old nickelodean message boards. I can't remember how the story went, but I wanted to re-write it using the original characters that I could remember. I hope you enjoy the story. Here is the first chapter._

The Last Light

It was nearly dusk. Layla had left for firewood nearly an hour ago. She knew better than to be out past sundown. Anya anxiously paced back and forth, contemplating the worst possible scenarios in her mind. Layla knew she was weakest when the sun was down, how could she be so irresponsible?

'What if she was ambushed by shadowbenders?' Anya thought. Footsteps echoed in the distance. Anya's fists glowed with bright yellow light, anticipating the worst. A figure appeared in the darkness.

"Anya, it's me!"

Anya sighed in relief at the sight of her sister. The light in her hands subsided.

"Jesus Layla, I was getting worried," Anya muttered.

Layla laughed, and tossed a pile of firewood onto the ground near the firepit. She flipped her long golden hair, and messily braided it.

"We should have enough firewood for a day or two. We should probably get to bed," Layla stated.

Anya nodded and made her way into her small tent. She laid her head down on her stained pillow, and an intrusive memory overwhelmed her:

_It was dark. Too dark. She tried to summon an orb of light, but the darkness was too much. She couldn't see a thing. She heard a scream in the distance._

_ "Anya, help!"_

_ Anya tried to run to Layla, but she couldn't see anything. Suddenly, her vision returned; had she been shadow-blinded? Anya scoured the area for Layla, and finally saw her. Layla was cripled on the ground, clutching her chest. _

_ "Layla, what happened?" Anya cried._

_ "It was a shadow, it hit right on my heart. It feels so wrong Anya, it hurts."_

_ Anya tried to conjure a healing light, and gently pressed it to Layla's chest._

_ "Anya no! It burns!" Layla cried._

_ Anya jumped back, and a tear slid down her face. She held her sister as tight as she could, and a glowing orb surrounded them._

'That was ten years ago, you need to stop this,' Anya thought to herself. 'You were eight years old, you didn't mean to hurt her.' They hadn't had a run in with any shadowbenders since. Anya and Layla had been on the run. The shadowbenders had outnumbered the lightbenders, and there were just a few left. Anya and Layla had never met another lightbender.

…

Anya tossed and turned in her makeshift sleeping bag. She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. She snuck out of her tent, and hovered outside of Layla's tent. She could hear the soft sound of Layla's steady breathing. Anya sighed in relief, and returned to her tent.

'You need to calm down. Layla isn't neurotic like this. What is wrong with you?' Anya screamed to herself. There was no way she was getting any sleep tonight. She felt a sense of warmth in her veins, and looked to the sky for confirmation. The sun was slowly, but surely rising in the sky once again. Lightbenders drew their strength from the sun, and were weakened by the darkness of night. Anya decided to let Layla sleep, and went for a stroll in the ominous forest they were camping in. She lit a light-torch in her hand, and headed north of the camp.

Birds chirped high in the treetops, and squirrells scurried among tree branches. The sounds of the forest calmed Anya, and she felt a sense of much-needed relief. Anya approached a stream, and sat on a rock nearby it. The water flowed south; that was where they needed to head next.

Suddenly, a twig snapped nearby. Anya jolted up, and frantically looked back and forth for the culprit. Her heart raced, and she thought of Layla asleep back at camp.

"Excuse me, miss?" a young man called, "I'm a little lost. Can you help me?"

Anya stood frozen in place. Who was this man? Was this a trap? The man walked closer to Anya. He was about six feet tall with brown hair and green eyes. He certainly didn't look like a shadowbender.

"Who are you?" Anya said cautiously.

"My name is Samil. I'm an Earth bender," he replied. He smiled, and his green eyes shined in the low light. For some reason, Anya trusted his words.

"I'm Anya. I don't really know my way around either to be honest." She looked to the ground awkwardly, "my sister and I are travelers."

Samil walked to Anya, and stood about two feet from her. Anya's heart continued to race, but not out of fear. Anya felt her face flush, and turned away.

"You can come back to my camp for supplies, if you want," Anya offered.

Samil chuckled. "That would be great. I'm starving."

Anya led the strange man back to camp with her, contemplating her every move. 'Was this a mistake? Have I put us in danger?' she thought. Yet, for some reason, she did not feel threatened. By now, the sun had clearly risen, and the light shone strongly throughout the sky.

"Whoa, who's this?" Layla shouted from the fire pit. She was roasting fish for breakfast.

Anya grimaced at the stench of sour fish. "Layla, this is Samil. He is an earth kingdom traveler."

Layla smiled, and pointed to her breakfast. "Want some?" She offered.

Samil graciously accepted, and devoured his serving in what seemed like seconds. Anya was surprised that Layla had accepted this strange man without question. She pulled Layla aside.

"Layla, be completely honest with me. Am I an idiot for leading this man back to our camp?"

"Wow, since when do you come to your little sister for validation?" Layla teased.

Anya sighed in embarrassment, and turned away.

"Oh come on, I'm only teasing," Layla called, "At least he's cute!"

…

Samil could tell his presence was causing some sort of commotion between the two blonde girls. He saw the two have a private conversation, and then Anya walk away with a troubled look on her face. He felt a sense of guilt for intruding on their camp, but was curious as to why these young girls were travelers. He could tell that Anya was holding back, but Layla seemed to be more easygoing. He walked to her tent and tapped on the fabric.

"Layla, do you have a minute?" he asked.

Layla opened her tent, and invited him in. "Sure, what's the matter?"

Samil thought it was strange that she automatically assumed something was wrong. "Nothing is the matter," he replied, "I was just wondering why you two are always traveling?"

Layla's mouth tightened, and her blue eyes shifted to the floor. Samil could see that she was carefully considering her answer.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep," Samil replied as he held his hands up in retreat.

"No, no," Layla insisted, "I just wasn't expecting that question is all," she said calmly.

"It's just a long and depressing story," she said while caressing her messy braid.

Samil was still curious, but decided it was best not to pry. He opened the door to her tent, and left without a word. He was caught at the door by Anya.

"What were you doing in my sister's tent?" She snarled. Her blue eyes squinted in anger.

Samil took a step back, and put up his hand, "Whoa there, we were just talking."

Layla peeked her head out of the tent and looked at her sister. "Anya, what are you doing?" she whispered.

Anya knew that she was probably overreacting, but she wanted this man to know that he was not the one in power here. She had to force her hands not to glow in rage. It was important to keep their bending a secret. Not many knew that lightbenders still existed, and this man was no exception.

Samil smiled at Anya. "Listen, I'm sorry. I can get going if it would make you feel better. I didn't mean to intrude."

Anya suddenly felt overwhelmed with guilt. He hadn't done anything wrong, and he had been nothing but kind.

"I'm sorry," Anya said awkwardly, "I just don't trust easily."

"And that's perfectly fine," Samil replied. Anya smiled weakly, and turned her back. She let out a big sigh, and turned back to face Samil.

"Want to help me catch something for dinner?" she asked with a smile.

Samil chuckled, and nodded. Layla shook her head and returned to her tent to read a book.

Anya and Samil headed back into the woods to find an animal worthy of dinner.

"I don't know about you, but I'm really sick of fish," Anya said lightheartedly.

Samil laughed, "I'm not picky. Food is food." He patted his flat stomach as he said it. Anya caught herself studying Samil's frame; tall, lanky, but with some muscle definition.

Suddenly, a fireball flew through the air and crashed into a nearby tree. 'Firebenders!' Anya screamed to herself. She looked to Samil, and he was already earthbending a wall to protect them. She stood conflicted; 'Do I lightbend to help us? Is it worth exposing Layla and I?'

Another fireball crashed through Samil's wall, knocking him to the ground. 'I don't have a choice," Anya thought. She lit her hands with light, and prepared for the worst.

Samil looked up dizzily, and saw a bright yellow light in Anya's hands. 'What is that?' he wondered. 'She's not a firebender is she?'

A nearby tree had caught on fire, and the area began to fill with smoke. Anya shot a burst of light through the air, clearing some of the black smoke. A group of five firebenders approached. Samil jumped up and shot three boulders toward them. Anya watched in awe as Samil knocked the firebenders to the ground. It appeared that a few were now unconscious, but two were still a threat. One of the firebenders drew his fingers through the air, creating a strike of blue lightning. He aimed the bolt toward Samil.

"No!" Anya screamed. She used all of her might to conjure a large shield of light in front of them. The lightning struck the shield, and was unable to penetrate it. Drained, Anya fell to the ground. Samil stared at her in shock. He had no idea what had just happened. He scooped Anya up in his arms, and sprinted back to camp.

Layla had already started running toward the commotion in the forest, and Samil ran into her.

"What happened to Anya?" Layla cried.

"Firebenders," Samil growled. "We have to get out of here!"

Layla and Samil ran back to camp and packed up everything as fast as they could. Anya laid on the ground unconscious. Tears stung Layla's eyes as the sight of her defeated sister.

"Let's go," Samil directed.

He carried Anya on his back with Layla by his side for several miles. Anya slowly opened her eyes, her eyelids seemed so heavy.

"Wha- what happened?" she asked weakly.

"You're okay!" Layla exclaimed. She held her sister tightly. Samil lowered her to the ground, and asked her if she remembered what had happened. Suddenly, it all came back to her.

"Layla, I had to lightbend in front of Samil. I had no choice," she explained. Layla looked to Samil with wide eyes.

"Lightbending?" he said with a confused look, "What on earth is lightbending?"


End file.
